I just purchased a 88' GL for 400 bucks. The lady says it goes through a lot of oil and you can readily smell it. It doesn smell like it is burning off of the exhaust because that is what my 92 loyale does. When you first start up you get a bit of smoke from the tail pipe. The undercarrige is soaked with oil. Since I payed so little I am going to take it to a friends and drop the engine. I wanted a list of To-dos while I have the engine out. This is what I have so far:

 

Head Gasket (which is the right gasket I need to use again?) hah.

oil pan gasket

oil pump gasket

timing belt, pulleys, ect

clutch (what is a good company for the kit?)

Water pump

(maybe a 2 inch lift too)

 

Should I do any other seals while the engine is easily accessable?

 

Looks like I will be selling my 92' loyale asap to pay for the work needed on this thing.

 

Thanks again for all the help~!

 

-Jesse

Edited January 6, 201115 yr by jzacher85

Cam Carrier o rings perhaps? Once the cam carriers are off you will see the o rings. I got mine from the Subaru dealer for about 2 bucks each...

Oh yeah - since the vlave covers are coming off, you could replace those and all the grommets. (9 of them I think).

 

The head gaskets that have been recommended to me are the FelPro Permatorque type.

 

Also - Oil filter...clamps (new clamps on hoses means no questions about their integrity)...intake gaskets...

I'd diagnose it first before yanking the engine. Leaks tend to start on the outer edges (valve covers, cams) and work their way in - so a valve cover or cam carrier seal of some sort slowly runs inward and gets blown around - making it hard to tell what's leaking. Maybe it's jsut the valve covers which are 30 minutes and $15 worth of work? I'd start simple and move your way up as you put some miles on the car and see how it does.

 

If you still want to get the headgaskets done:

 

I would not pull the engine on these to do a headgasket job, way overkill. It's easier if you pull it but by far the quickest way is to do it in the car. They're actually really easy to do in the car if you don't have a bad back. Have a 10mm ratcheting wrench handy for the valve cover gasket bolt in the rear. In the hours it takes to pull and install an engine you can have much of the work done. Folks will claim how quick they can pull the engine, but I wouldn't consider those norms for the average first timer or infrequent engine puller, set up time, etc. And even still a 45 minute pull and 45 minute install is still an hour and a half, enough time to already have both heads off. I'd rather have both heads off in an hour and a half than just getting started.

 

Use Fel-Pro permatorque headgaskets - they don't require a retorque and are the preferred gasket by folks who do a lot of these (for this motor only, not all Subaru motors FYI).

 

If you still want to pull the engine - unbolt and swing the a/c comrpessor to the side, engine comes out without disconnecting the lines. Remove everything that needs to come off - power steering pump lines, a/c compressor, disconnect wiring harness, two 14mm nuts underneaht for the engine mounts, 14mm bolts around the bellhousing, disconnect allt he radiator hoses, heater core hoses, ground wires, etc. use screw drivers and chisels to start separating the engine from the trans.

 

fairly straight forward, disconnect anything connecting the engine to the vehicle/chassis then pull it.

 

if it's an automatic be sure you know how to seat the torque converter properly.

But if you were to pull the engine, you'd need to disconnect:

 

 

What grossgary said about the a/c bracket - move aside but don't disconnect a/c hoses

4 bolts on tranny (obviously)

hill stopper

pitch stopper

mounts

line from coil to dist.

ground cable in front of battery to engine

fuel lines

wiring harness for sensors/vac control/electrical distributor...

remove radiator and all fans including mechanical

vac line to hvac and cruise

spare tire support bar

throttle cable

power steering lines

afterburner valve to egr valve line

purge canister

brake booster line

heater hoses going to firewall

 

I know I'm forgetting something, but that's most of it.